Dragons Together, Family Forever!
by Transformers 0
Summary: What were the lives of Meatlug, Hookfang, Barf, Belch, Stormfly and Toothless like before they met their riders? Time to find out about all the adventures they had as hatchlings! Time to find out what it was like for them when they grew up from babies to teens!
1. Birth of Meatlug

**Hello! This is my first-ever **_**How to Train Your Dragon**_** story!**

**It focuses on the lives of the main dragons before the 1****st**** Movie! And who knows? It may go beyond into the TV Series and 2****nd**** Movie!**

**This was inspired by the picture **_**Berk Baby Dragons**_** by Usagi-Zakura!**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

**Dragons Together, Family Forever!**

**Birth of Meatlug**

Pushing against the eggshell from the inside was hard. Very hard. The little baby Gronckle shut its eyes and pushed harder.

_Crack!_ The egg exploded. The baby Gronckle felt cold water, and instinctively swam upwards. It broke the surface of the water and sucked in big breaths of air.

"It's a girl!" a small voice cried out.

The baby Gronckle swam to the shore and scrambled out.

"Come here, my baby," a grown-up feminine voice said. The baby Gronckle scurried over. When she opened her small eyes, she saw another baby Gronckle like her – only a little bit bigger – and she saw 2 other Gronckles next to the aforementioned baby Gronckle – only this time those 2 Gronckles were _huge_!

The baby Gronckle cuddled up to the grown-up female.

"Mama," she sighed contentedly, and fell asleep at once.

* * *

"So, Liz, what should we call your baby sister?" Maria asked her daughter. She was talking about the sleeping baby Gronckle next to her.

"How about Tackle-wackle?" replied little Liz.

"That's a bit wacky, isn't it dear?" Rodger said to his daughter, "Let's try again."

"Okay Daddy. How about Meatlug?" Liz quipped.

"Meatlug… I like it!" said Maria happily.

"Meatlug it is, then!" chortled Roger.

The family's eyes all turned to their newest member, who was still sleeping blissfully.

* * *

**What do you guys think of the first chapter? Tell me by leaving a comment or review!**

**Anyway, I've given the main dragons their ages in the 1****st**** Movie.**

**From Oldest to Youngest:  
**Meatlug (19 years old)  
Hookfang (18 years old)  
Barf and Belch (17 years old)  
Stormfly (16 years old)  
Toothless (15 years old)

**To quote Valka in the 2****nd**** Movie, regarding the age of Toothless:  
**_"Look! He's your age! No wonder you get along so well!"_

**So anyways, the next few chapters will focus on Baby Meatlug for a bit, and then we'll move onto the birth of Baby Hookfang, and then the rest of the dragons will come to be born.**

**Have a nice day! Or as Gobber would say, "Have a nice flight!"**


	2. Meet Meatlug - A Few Weeks Older

**HI THERE! XD XD XD!**

**I'm back, my friends! I'm back with the 2****nd**** Chapter!**

**It's time for you to start reading. Have a nice flight!**

* * *

**Meet Meatlug – A Few Weeks Older**

_**A few weeks later…**_

Meatlug crawled out of the nest. It was time to start the morning – also known as "time to play".

She whizzed about on her little wings, looking for anything that would interest or excite her.

She soon spotted a tiny red thing with black spots, crawling about on a log. Meatlug settled down next to the log and eyed it curiously – she had never seen anything like it before.

The tiny thingy then crawled _underneath_ the log, much to Meatlug's bewilderment. She tried to scrub the bark off with her foot-claws, but they were still too stubby and not sharp enough. So Meatlug then resorted to chomping off a large section of the log.

She immediately regretted it, for now she felt hundreds of tiny legs skittering all over the insides of her mouth. Swallowing the wood – and regrettably a few of those things with it – Meatlug charged up a fire blast and shot the rest of the blasted things out of her mouth.

"So I see you've had your first experience with ladybugs, little sister," chuckled Liz, now joining Meatlug, "Don't worry. It happened to Mommy as well, when she was just a few days old."

"Oh tell me about it, big sister!" spat Meatlug, still trying to rid her mouth of that disgusting creepy-crawly stimulus.

"Mom will tell you about her _absolutely unpleasant_ experience back at the nest," smiled Liz, "And Dad is coming home with a few mouthfuls of fish and gravel. You coming, 'Lug?"

"I'm coming, Liz!" replied Meatlug, hovering over to her, "I love you, big sis."

"Love you too, little sis," hummed Liz happily.

* * *

**Don't forget to leave a review / comment, guys!**

**See you later, alligators!**


	3. Names

**This chapter was inspired by fellow writer ScoreLaine, who made an inquiry about why Meatlug's family had more human-like names. Well I came up with this to explain why. Have a nice flight!**

* * *

**Names**

_**A few months later…**_

Meatlug was alone. She liked it. She did it often when she wanted to think about something. And that something was her name. Why did her name sound so… Weird? Different? Strange? Looney? She had no idea. She flapped her little wings and fetched an afternoon snack of fish and gravel from the river. Maybe tonight after dinner she would ask her family where they got their own names from.

* * *

"Mommy."

"Yes, my baby."

"Why is my name Meatlug?"

"Because your sister named you."

Meatlug shifted so that she was in a more comfortable position next to her Mom. She was still curious, though.

"Why did Liz name me?"

"Our tradition goes like this: a Gronckle daddy and mommy get together and have a baby. Then together the parents think of a name for their child. If the parents have another child, the first child gets to give the name. And if the parents have yet another child, the second child gets to give the name. So that's why Liz named you – you were the second child, and she was the first."

"But why did she pick the name Meatlug? It sounds so awkward and different!" groaned Meatlug.

"Are you saying you don't like the name I gave you?" Liz butted in.

"No, that's not it, sis. But why does your name, and Mom's, and Dad's sound so… so… simple? Not to mention good-mannered!"

"Dear, we wish our names weren't so good mannered! We would frighten off the enemy Vikings so much more easily!" Rodger complimented his youngest daughter.

"Could you at least tell me the stories of how you each got your names?" asked Meatlug, with her puppy-dog eyes.

Liz put on her puppy-dog eyes too. She never knew exactly how she and her parents had ended up with names that sounded so tame.

"You go first," whispered Roger to Maria.

* * *

_When I had just barely hatched, my parents heard singing coming from a nearby Viking camp. It sounded like the blasted creatures were singing a song called _"Ave Maria" _and for some reason they thought that a dragon that had the name of someone whom the Vikings revered would jinx the Vikings and bring my family good luck._

_When I was your age I asked them where they had got the bright idea to name me after a Viking figure. I was being sarcastic. It was a dumb idea. They said to me, "Your strange name, dear, is what helps you to frighten off Vikings and get a good night's sleep for yourself."_

_And then I said to them, "Thank you… for summing that up."_

_I didn't sleep well that night._

* * *

"Okay love, now it's your turn to tell your tale," Maria said to Roger.

* * *

_I had just hatched, and it was completely at the wrong time. Our territory had just been invaded by Vikings. I crawled about, and I was separated from my parents._

_I heard several dragons shouting orders to repel the Vikings. I couldn't understand anything they were saying except the phrase "Roger roger!"_

_When my parents found me after we had won the battle, I couldn't stop saying "Roger roger!" for the rest of the day!_

_And so they named me Roger!_

* * *

"What about me, Mama! Where did I get my name from?" whined Liz. Roger and Maria chuckled.

"Well, sweetie," said Maria, "Your Daddy here wanted to name you Lava Liz."

Liz stuck out her tongue in mock disgust towards her father.

"But I made him settle for just Liz," finished Maria.

"What do we do now?" asked Liz. Roger smiled warmly at his family.

"Okay, my little princesses and queen – time for bed!"

"Oh Papa!" the girls whined.

Maria chuckled. She remembered when she and her younger sisters would say the same thing to their parents.

_Those were the good old days._

* * *

**Okay guys! Coming up next chapter, we skip forward a year – Meatlug will now be 1 year old and she will watch… the Birth of Hookfang!**

**Oh, and by the way, did you guys spot the reference to _Star Wars: The Clone Wars_?**


	4. Birth of Hookfang

**Birth of Hookfang**

_**1 year later…**_

"Where are we going today, Mommy?" asked Meatlug.

"We are going to see one of my friends, Warschtip. She is a Monstrous Nightmare dragon and she is having her egg hatch today!"

Meatlug wondered to herself what that baby were going to be like. She wanted to be friends with it, but if it was hostile… then not so much.

"I've got the perfect names for the baby to pick!" squeaked Liz, "Phil, Dill, Shizzil, Billyill, Dilly, Willly, Yiz and Sill!"

"I think we'll leave the naming to the parents this time," laughed Rodger.

The family reached the nest where Warschtip and her husband, Yankser, had laid their eggs. There was 1 crimson crystal egg glistening underwater in a nearby stream. While the parents greeted each other, Meatlug and Liz crept over to the egg.

"What's going on?" asked Meatlug, "Why are the eggs in the water?"

"Well, we have to get them out sis," buzzed Liz, hovering over to the egg. When Meatlug joined her, she gave the signal, "Ready 'Lug?"

"Ready."

"One, two, three – lift!"

Together the two sisters carried the egg onto the riverbank. When the parents were done greeting each other, they turned and saw the impending disaster.

"NO!" yelled Warschtip and Yankser.

"Get back, girls!" roared Maria and Rodger, "An egg explodes!"

Liz and Meatlug turned to each other slowly.

"An egg explodes?" whispered Meatlug in alarm. Behind her, the egg started to rattle loudly. It was burning hot and was glowing bright red.

"AN EGG EXPLODES?!" screamed Liz, pushing Meatlug and herself behind their parents for cover. With a bang, the egg exploded and a baby Monstrous Nightmare flew out and plopped on the sandy ground next to the assembled group.

"Aww!" smiled Meatlug and Liz. The parents of the baby crooned happily.

"What's the baby's name?" asked Rodger. That's when they all saw that the baby already had some little fangs pointing out of his mouth. Monstrous Nightmares weren't supposed to have fangs until they were a few weeks old.

"Hookfang?" Yankser asked Warschtip.

"Hookfang," Warschtip replied.


	5. Headstrong Hookfang

**Headstrong Hookfang**

_**A few weeks later…**_

"…And I can fly super-fast!" boasted little Hookfang, "Way faster than you slowpokes!"

Liz rolled her eyes. Next to her, Meatlug scowled.

"What? Did I say something? Do I still have chicken stuck in my fangs?"

Hookfang licked his lips, trying to find any bits of poultry stuck in his mouth.

"Maybe it's not chicken? Maybe it's – maybe it's not that at all. Are you guys sick? Liz you do look a bit quaint, and Meatlug you do look quite overweight."

"Overweight, my eyeballs," slurred Meatlug in a barely audible snarl.

"I think you might want to take a look in the pond, 'Fang," groaned Liz in annoyance, "The only obese one here is _you_."

"But you and your family look fat _all_ the time!" replied Hookfang. The two girls gave him a glare.

"I take that back! But you have to admit that you guys could deal with a bit less feeding."

Meatlug whispered to Liz, "Now under these unique circumstances, do we merely leave him, or annihilate him _and then_ leave him?"

"Annihilate," grinned Liz evilly, "1, 2, 3 – GO!"

With a roar, Liz and Meatlug surged forward. Hookfang yelped and made a break for it. However a couple of fire blasts hit him and he shrieked.

"He sounds just like a little baby hatchling!" sniggered Meatlug.

"Shut up girly!" Hookfang snapped. However, he let out another scream as Liz blasted his butt.

"You shut up and work out!"

"Annihilate!" shouted Meatlug, repeating herself, "ANNIHILATE ANNIHILATE ANNHILATE ANNIHILATE ANNIHILATE!"

Together, Liz and Meatlug wrestled Hookfang to the ground. And then the two sisters proceeded to sit down on the poor Nightmare hatchling. Hookfang's little wings flapped desperately.

"I'm down! I'm down already!" he pleaded desperately, "I'll work out more often!"

Meatlug and Liz looked at each other and giggled before releasing Hookfang. The three of them were covered in ash, mud, and soot.

"Bathtime?" asked Meatlug.

"Bathtime?" confirmed Liz.

"And then workouts!" added Hookfang cheekily. Meatlug and Liz glowered dangerously at him.

"Workouts just for me only!" he quickly added, and then burst out laughing. Liz and Meatlug looked at each other in bewilderment before they burst out laughing too.

"Friends again?" laughed Hookfang, rolling around on the grass.

"Of course friends again!" replied Meatlug and Liz cheerfully, rolling around on the grass too.


	6. Birth of Barf and Belch

**Birth of Barf and Belch**

_**1 year later...**_

"Ruckus and Magnaburn, could we have some more moss over on the egg?" asked Danagma and Tracer.

"Sure thing, honey," grinned Ruckus and Magnaburn. He trodded over to his egg and covered it with some more moss. The explosiveness of a dragon egg should _never_ be underestimated.

Zipplebacks only lay one egg for each generation. That means they wait for their child to grow up, then they can have another egg. The reason they wait for their child to grow up before having another one is because one baby Zippleback is already enough trouble for the parents to handle.

Ruckus/Magnaburn and Danagma's/Tracer's egg started to _RUMBLE_!

"Honey, it's time for us to do… The Long Walk," whispered Ruckus/Magnaburn. He and his wife quickly scurried out of their nest and took cover behind some boulders.

"FIRE IN THE HOLES!" whooped Ruckus/Magnaburn. The egg finally exploded with a big bang, launching a baby Zippleback through the air with a whistle. The baby crash-landed at the feet of it's parents. The two heads of the baby looked confusedly at one another, before turning their heads to look at their rather tall parents.

"Mama?" asked the right head, looking at Ruckus/Magnaburn.

"Papa?" asked the left one, staring at Danagma/Tracer.

"No, no, you've got us all wrong," smiled Danagma/Tracer, patting her little infants with her right forefoot, "It's the other way around."

Then the two heads started to have a burping competition. In mere seconds an explosion followed swiftly.

"Oh yeah, there you go," snickered Ruckus/Magnaburn, "Once baby Zipplebacks discover their abilities they've hardly got self control."

Everyone was covered in black soot.

"Now, let us talk about names," said Danagma/Tracer, "Barf and Belch are names that spring to my mind."

"Hey that's funny – I was thinking the same thing, you know," chortled Ruckus, "We Zipplebacks sure have brains that think alike, like green eggs and uh… uh…"

"Like green eggs and ham?" finished Danagma.

"Yeah I was thinking that too!" insisted Ruckus.

"Sure you were," smirked Magnaburn.

"But I was!" whined Ruckus.

Danagma/Tracer just smiled and looked lovingly at her baby (uh… babies).

"You," she gestured with her forefeet to the right head, "You are Barf."

"And you are Belch," Ruckus/Magnaburn said to the other head.

Barf and Belch started to crawl to their parents, but Belch wanted his mommy, and Barf wanted his daddy. Their heads got tangled as they fought each other over which parent they should go to. Danagma/Tracer smiled and like any mother, she was the first to approach her infant (uh… infants).

Belch smirked and Barf pouted, but soon brightened up when Ruckus and Magnaburn joined the family embrace.

"Barf and Belch, welcome to the World," said the parents.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
****I went back and edited this chapter when I realized that I had just given single names (Ruckus) to Barf and Belch's parents rather than two names (Ruckus and Magnaburn). Zipplebacks do have two heads after all.**


	7. Summing Everything Up

**Summing Everything Up**

"Good morning Liz, Meatlug. What'cha doin'?" chirped Hookfang. The 1-year-old Monstrous Nightmare was still the most extroverted out of the trio.

"Exploring the big, wide world," grinned Meatlug. She cheerfully buzzed round a tree and some bushes. Liz meanwhile investigated this oval-shaped buzz box hanging off a branch. It smelled sweet that she couldn't resist…

_CHOMP!_

Liz ate the buzz box, and swallowed some sweet creepy crawlies. But yellow sticky liquid (honey) had burst everywhere in the process. Liz was covered from head to foot in gooey golden liquid.

"Hello bumblebee," giggled Hookfang.

"Me?! A bumblebee?!" shrieked Liz angrily. Hookfang just shrugged his wings.

"That's what those yellow buggies are called. Now you're yellow, and when you fly you always buzz."

"Well thank you, for summing that up," sighed Liz. She hovered over a pond and dropped in so hard that she sent waves crashing into Meatlug and Hookfang back at shore.

"Oh come on! It's cold!" Hookfang shivered.

"Oh puh-leeze!" laughed Meatlug, diving in after her big sister – and splashing Hookfang again in the process.

"What is it with girls and coldness?!" he shrieked.

"What is it with boys and hotness?!" Liz and Meatlug replied.

"Of course I'm hot!" shot back Hookfang, "**I'M**! **ON**! **FIRE**!"

And with that, he set himself on fire.

"Well, the cold never bothered us anyway," sang Meatlug and Liz.

"Cause you're big fat bumblebees," said Hookfang sharply.

"And you're a talking fishbone!" sang Liz in a mocking voice.

"I bet this is what Mr Yankser* says about you," smirked Meatlug, putting on a gruff Scottish accent, "Excuse me, Warschtip**! I'm afraid ye brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra large Nightmare with beefy wings! And razor-sharp fangs in his mouth! My baby Hookfang's a talking fishbone!"

"Good job summing that up, 'Lug," laughed Liz. But when they turned to Hookfang, the Nightmare hatchling had his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Oh no…" gasped Meatlug softly. Before either girl could react, Hookfang quickly flew off.

"I think we went too far there, sis," sighed Liz sadly. Meatlug shook her head slowly in agreement.

"Yeah, too far…"

Hookfang was quite a small Monstrous Nightmare hatchling. His father often vented his disappointment to him on that subject. That subject was a sensitive, touchy spot for Hookfang and the Gronckle girls had crossed the line.

"Let's go after him," said Liz.

"Couldn't have summed it up better myself, sis," agreed Meatlug.

* * *

**Reminders:  
*** Yankser = Father of Hookfang

** Warschtip = Mother of Hookfang


	8. Expanding Friendships

**Expanding Friendships**

"H-How c-could th-they d-do th-that t-t-to me?" sniffled Hookfang, sheltering by a willow tree. The poor Nightmare hatchling sobbed his eyes out.

"Hello there!" said a voice. Or rather, _two_ voices.

"Oh, h-hello," whimpered Hookfang in a small voice, "Who a-are y-you?"

"I'm Barf!"

"And I'm Belch!"

"We're twins!"

"I m-might h-have known it," said Hookfang, starting to smile a bit.

"Why were you crying?" asked Belch.

"You see, there are these two meanie Gronckle girls –"

"Say no more!" replied Barf, "We can deal with them!"

* * *

"Hookfang! Hookfang!" Liz cried out.

"Look little bro, we're sorry!" added Meatlug.

Suddenly green smog surrounded the girls.

"I feel queasy!" squeaked Meatlug, before blasting up vomit and fire.

The gas exploded, leaving two blackened baby Gronckles, the smaller of the two very hacked off.

"If this is Hookfang's doing," growled Meatlug in a low voice, "Then he's –"

"It's a Zippleback's doing, sis," said Liz, watching the surrounding forest area in caution. Luckily no trees had caught alight, but there was still the danger of a stranger dragon.

Stranger Danger is not just common to humans, of course, but to dragons as well.

"Hi!" squeaked a cute, mischievous voice.

"We did that!" squeaked another similar-sounding voice.

"Well, **WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT**?!" roared Meatlug in fury.

Barf and Belch flew out from behind a tree. So did Hookfang.

"Because you hurt our friend over here," grinned the twins cheekily. Hookfang looked at Liz and Meatlug nervously.

"Uh… hi guys," he whispered softly.

"Well hello, Hookfang," said Liz, "Me and Meatlug were just about to apologize."

"Look, we are very sorry, bro," sighed Meatlug, "And I guess me and Liz deserved being gassed here by these two…"

"Barf!"

"And Belch!"

"Pleased to meet you two," smiled Liz.

"We're all cool here – we're all best friends again," chirped Hookfang happily, "Only this time, new friends have just joined the party!"

"HOORAY!" whooped the group of friends and now-friends.

"Let's play!" squeaked Barf and Belch.

* * *

And so the baby dragons played, all now good friends. They played all afternoon, the hours passing by blissfully, peacefully, and happily.

Then they all fell asleep at dusk, snoozing side by side under the shadow of a great oak tree.


	9. Born in an Aftermath

**Born in an Aftermath**

_**1 year later…**_

A Deadly Nadder stood guard over his lone egg. Around them lay corpses of dragons – one of them his mate – killed by those who belonged to the evil queen – The Red Death. A few other (benevolent) dragons who had survived the onslaught stood not far away from them.

The Red Death, that black-hearted devil dragon from Hell, wanted more dragons to serve her. But dragons want peace – and right now in these times, it's pretty hard to achieve peace when you're being oppressed by both the Red Death and the Vikings.

"Skystorm, if only you had survived long enough to see our egg hatch," the male (whose name was Macroblast) said sadly, tears leaking out of his purple eyes. Macroblast took cover behind the corpse of a Rumblehorn. The egg went BOOM! And a blue baby Nadder went flying high in the sky. In fact, the parent waited for about 2 minutes before the hatchling came crashing down on his nose.

"Well hello, my baby girl," smiled Macroblast. His hatchling giggled in response.

Macroblast sighed, "Anyway my dear Skystorm, since our baby is a girl, I want her name to have part of yours in it. Hmm… Stormfly. Yeah, that's the name. The first syllable has part of your name my love, and the second syllable pretty much describes her first 2 minutes of life."

The winds seemed to howl in reply. Macroblast knew it was his wife bidding him and their daughter one last farewell.

"I guess it's settled then," Macroblast sighed sadly, and then he gestured to his baby with his wing, "Come here, my baby Stormfly."

Baby Stormfly chirped happily, and then she plodded over to her father. After a yawn that lasted for 10 seconds, the newborn Nadder fell asleep, safe and content under her father's wing.


	10. How to Take Care of Your Baby Dragon

**How to Take Care of Your Baby Dragon**

Stormfly, now a few weeks old, was proving to be quite the challenge for her father.

Macroblast chased his daughter over and under a few logs.

"Daddy, I don't want to be preened!" squealed Stormfly. She scampered round some bushes. She still couldn't fly, _obviously_. But she was a _fast_ runner.

"Dear, us Nadders all preen ourselves!" sighed Macroblast, "Otherwise dirt and dust get under our scales and we itch all over!"

"I don't care!" cried Stormfly. She found a mud pond and dived headfirst into it. Stormfly giggled when she re-surfaced, utterly covered from head to toe in sticky mud.

"Now you'll definitely need a bath _and_ some preening, little girl!" scolded Macroblast, swooping down and plucking up his daughter. Stormfly squealed in excitement. When her daddy took her on flights, she would enjoy it very much. After all, it would still be a few more months before she could fly by herself.

"Wheeee!" she shrieked.

Father and daughter approached the river at an exhilarating speed. Stormfly screamed in delight.

With a _splash_, Macroblast dunked his daughter in the river. Stormfly chirped happily and swam about. The mud washed off her and soon she was as clean as a whistle.

"Okay my baby, bath time's done!" called Macroblast from the riverbank.

"But I want to play!" protested little Stormfly, shaking her little head stubbornly.

"First you don't want to preen, then you don't want to get out of the bath!" exclaimed her father in exasperation, "Oh come here, you!"

He launched himself into the air and zoomed towards his baby daughter. He plucked her out of the river and flew faster and higher into the morning sky. Stormfly laughed and giggled as the wind rushed through her little wings.

Macroblast landed in a small clearing in the forest.

"Now it's preening time!" he declared.

"Oh no! Eeeeee! Aaaah!" shrieked Stormfly, as her father preened her scales. It _tickled_! It tickled _so much_!

"Da-da-daddy, ha-ha, st-st-st-stop!" she squealed, desperately squirming to try and get away. But it was no good.

After about a minute or two, Macroblast had finished preening his little girl. Stormfly still giggled for a few more seconds before finally catching her breath.

"Now it's time for your morning nap," said Macroblast.

"But… I'm not… tired…" yawned Stormfly, her eyes ever so slowly closing. Her father gently swept her under his belly and began to sing a lullaby to her.

_"Rock-a-bye baby,  
__Have a good sleep.  
__When you wake up,  
__It will be time to eat._

_When Vikings attack,  
__We'll send them running away.  
__Then we'll go back to sleep,  
'Cause that makes our day."_

* * *

All that I can say afterwards is that Stormfly slept happily for the rest of the day.


	11. Test Flight

**Test Flight**

Stormfly woke up and scanned her surroundings. It was still dark outside the cave and her father was still snoozing. He had to wake up! Today he was going to teach her how to fly!

"Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! Wake up!" she squeaked.

"Sky, she's your daughter before sunrise, okay?" Macroblast mumbled.

"Daddy! You promised!" Stormfly huffed and stomped her little feet.

"Sky, our little girl's growing up too fast," Macroblast continued.

"Daddy! I'm not growing up too fast! I'm still little!" whined said little girl.

"That's good. I can keep you in order."

"Daddy!"

"Why don't you go out and play, Stormfly? I'll be along in a few minutes."

Stormfly pouted but she forced herself to agree.

"Alright, Daddy."

* * *

Outside the cave, Stormfly flapped her little wings, trying to fly even before she was taught how to. But now the only thing she succeeded in doing was crashing into the big piles of leaves that the Autumn season left lying about. Dragging herself out of one of those piles of leaves, the baby Nadder huffed and pouted. A few Monarch Butterflies glided past in the breeze.

"Buttie-flies!" giggled Stormfly. She gazed at them in awe, before trying to copy their flying.

"Mr Buttie-fly! How do you fly?" she chirped at the nearest one. Unfortunately, butterflies don't speak dragon language and are terrified of dragons (understandably).

"Wait, Mr Buttie-fly! Don't go!" whined Stormfly, trying to flap her wings – which didn't seem to produce any results.

"Come on wings! Fly!" she grumbled. She tried to take a running leap, but instead tripped over her own feet.

"Ow-ie," she muttered gloomily.

"Not quite graceful yet, are you, little one?" crooned Macroblast.

"Finally, Daddy!" squealed Stormfly, "I've been waiting ages!"

_"She sure gets her drama acting from her mother,"_ Macroblast thought poignantly before he replied, "It's only been 10 minutes."

"Not to me!" Stormfly whined.

"Now now, you've been waiting 6 months to learn how to fly, so you can wait a few minutes more while I teach you," Macroblast scolded. Little Stormfly hung her head in shame.

"Sorry, Daddy. Okay Daddy," she apologized whole-heartedly.

"That's a good girl. Now the first step to flying is to spread your wings out and take a running leap," said Macroblast, showing and telling his daughter the steps to flying simultaneously.

"Then," he continued, "You flap one or two times – three if you have to – to get you airborne. Then here comes the part which most hatchlings screw-up; the final step is to let your wings glide for a few seconds before flapping a few times. And when you flap, it is steady and rhythmic."

"What's rhythmic mean, Da?" asked Stormfly. Macroblast had forgotten he was talking to a _baby_.

"Rhythmic means like a beat, dear," said Macroblast, landing to show his daughter what he meant, "Watch my wings."

Macroblast started to flap his wings in a steady beat. Stormfly watched in awe as her father did a vertical take-off. Even on the ground, she could feel the power of each of his down-strokes, the air current so powerful that the ground beneath her feet was vibrating.

"Now you try," Macroblast encouraged his daughter. Stormfly did as she was told and mimicked her father's movements. Suddenly she found her feet were dangling in the air – she was flying!

"Okay there, honey?" asked her father. Stormfly nodded her little head.

"Good," continued her father, "Now let's take this nice and slow. Your hovering right now, so lean forward to fly forward."

Stormfly did so and found that despite still being small, she could fly quite fast.

"Now try position 3 – no, I mean 4, which is when you turn your tail up to fly upwards."

Stormfly soared higher and higher. She wanted to fly in the clouds, until her father called out another order.

"Now position 5 – turn your tail downwards."

Stormfly descended and while gliding, she spotted something – which unfortunately took her attention away from looking in the direction she was flying.

"Daddy, look! Buttie-flies!"

"They're call… flies… trees… out!" shouted her father.

"Huh?" said Stormfly in confusion. Regaining concentration, she turned her head to look at her father.

"They're called butterflies, and there's trees ahead – look out!"

Stormfly turned her head and looked straight – and immediately started panicking.

"Don't panic – that makes everything worse!"

"Help, Daddy!" screamed Stormfly, "Aaaaaaah –"

The screaming baby Nadder disappeared into the leaves and branches.

* * *

A few minutes later…

"Storm… can… me?"

Stormfly's eyelids fluttered open.

"Stormfly, can you hear me?" asked her concerned father.

"Yes, Da," she whimpered. Why was her head hurting so much?

"Ow-ie all over," she groaned.

"It's alright, my baby. Daddy's right here. But tell me, what do you see?"

"Pretty rainbows, giant waterfalls, glittery stars…" Stormfly moaned.

"Just as I thought. You just need a nap or two and you'll feel better," said her father warmly, "We'll continue our flight lessons another time. I'm pretty certain that you'd be wanting to stay on the ground for a few days now."

Stormfly nodded weakly. Her father scooped her up in his claws, and started flying home.

"Just rest, my baby. Just rest," he soothed.

And you know what? Stormfly slipped into the comforting warmth and darkness of sleep, dreaming of adventures high in the sky.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**The original title for this chapter was supposed to be "Butterflies and Flying", but I changed it to "Test Flight" as homage to the universal theme for HTTYD – "Test Drive".**


	12. Whiteout

**Merry Christmas, fellow readers and writers!**

**This is your Christmas gift!**

* * *

**Whiteout**

Stormfly didn't like the cold at all. Her little body quavered and shook fiercely. Her mouth chattered and frustratedly snapped open and shut at the last of the falling leaves. She stomped her little feet in a dragon tantrum and puffed out some magnesium fire at a small pile of dead foliage.

"Don't set the forest on fire, child," her father laughed. He nudged her, trying to get her to move about.

"Play and run around fast and the cold won't sting as much."

"Okie-dokie," the baby Nadder sighed, before running off through the piles of leaves.

* * *

When she came back from her run, she snuggled up to her father. She fell into more giggling fits when he preened her all over for the umpteenth time. Then her face set in stony concentration, as if trying to remember something that was bugging her.

"Daddy, why do the leaves turn brown and fall off?" Stormfly asked, mentally wondering why she hadn't asked that question sooner.

"As the weather gets colder, the plants die, my child," Macroblast responded. Stormfly's jaw dropped in horror. Her father burst out laughing, for his daughter looked comic.

"So the beautiful greens are now gone forever?!" squealed Stormfly in utter panic.

"Let's just say that as the old plants die, they give birth to new plants underground. Those new plants will sprout out as soon as the weather gets warm again."

"Oh," came the simple realization from Stormfly.

"Come now, child. Let us rest for the night," Macroblast stated, opening up his left wing to take in his daughter's small body.

"I don't like cold, Daddy," Stormfly muttered, lying down and closing her eyes.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry."

And soon, both father and daughter were fast asleep.

* * *

Stormfly was the first to wake up. The baby Nadder toddled over to the opening of the cave. And she gasped in surprise. Everywhere the landscape had turned white! The baby turned back to wake her father.

"Daddy! Daddy! What's all that white stuff?" she asked her parent, golden eyes shimmering with curiosity.

"Why that's snow, Stormfly."

"Snow?"

"Think of it as frozen rain, child," said Macroblast, offering his daughter a juxtaposition.

"Oh…" the young Nadder said, before slowly walking out of the cave and taking a sniff at some snowflakes. That did not end well as they went up her snout and she let out a huge sneeze.

"Haha! Don't worry, Storm. You aren't the first dragon to make that mistake," her father laughed.

"Let's fly!" Stormfly cried out, wanting to see her newly-changed world. Big Nadder and Little Nadder flew out into the winter wonderland.

* * *

"Daddy, look! What happened to the lake?" Stormfly called from out in front. Her father inspected the scene. "The lake has frozen over," he finally announced. This worried Stormfly a bit. "How are we gonna get food then?" she inquired, hovering in place.

"Oh that's quite simple, dear," Macroblast replied, "We melt the top of the ice with our fire breath until we break through to the water."

With that, Macroblast started burning away at the frozen layers. He soon achieved his objective and dove down into the cold waters to hunt. Stormfly wanted to try that too.

She hovered a few metres above the ice, blasting her flames on the surface. That didn't seem to work, and she grew frustrated. So she landed on the frozen lake top and started stamping her feet in annoyance. She had done this for about 20 seconds before loud cracks rang out and she found herself falling through to the icy waters.

"He–!" she tried to scream. But her cries were turned into choked gargles by the freezing liquid. She flailed about, kicking her legs and flapping her wings in a blind panic. Then as the cold made the last of her consciousness seep away, she felt a rush of water beneath her and a jerking force dragging her rapidly upwards.

* * *

"AND STAY OUT!" bellowed an irate Sliquifier, blasting the two Nadders out from his temporary hideaway. The Little Nadder landed headfirst in a snow pile, while the Big Nadder sprawled onto the white shore.

"Jeez, that dragon should take some chill krill," Macroblast muttered indignantly as he got up and preened himself. He made his way over to his daughter to check her over.

When Stormfly came to, she saw her daddy's concerned blue eyes gazing into her own golden ones. She started to shiver – again.

Her father snuggled her up close to his belly, before lying down in the nesting position. He spat out three fish which she gobbled gratefully. As another blizzard started to blow and both Nadders started to drift off into a nap, Macroblast whispered one more thing to his daughter.

"Next time just leave the ice-fishing to me, okay sweetie?"

* * *

**Don't forget to review!**

**Have a Great Christmas, y'all!**


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